Suburban report.

Homeless Advocate Gets Own New Home

Thanks to a local developer, an agency serving the homeless in the northwest suburbs no longer has to worry about losing its own home.

The agency, Hope Now, was squeezed out of space it rents from the Wheeling Township Center in Arlington Heights as of Jan. 1. And for weeks, agency officials worried they would have no new place to go.

But developer Mark Anderson stepped in and has offered up his two-story office building at 11 N. Arlington Heights Rd.

Hope Now would share the space with two other agencies that have also been searching for a new home, Northwest Suburban PADS and the North West Housing Partnership.

PADS is a group of churches that provide temporary shelter and meals for the homeless throughout the winter. The housing partnership serves as an advocate for affordable housing units. All three agencies will get the office rent-free.

"I would call it a miracle in Arlington Heights," said Tom Shirley, Hope Now's executive director. "It's certainly happening at the right time of year."

Agency officials have not yet made the agreement formal, but expect to move into Anderson's now-vacant building this month.

Hope Now's drop-in center is a temporary refuge for the homeless during the day.